dreamsmoke to a dreamsoundtrack

by Bec Fary

I woke with a song in my head, something jazzy. It was from the final scene in my dream, which played out like a film.

I’d been at an internship, everyone seated at desks with computers in a greyish room. I’d been given a special project to work on, which made me nervous. I was so stressed I ended up jittery, walking around the office and taking breaks to a white, shiny mall next door to the internship office.

I guess it was the end of the day then and my ‘boss’ came in the room. She told me I hadn’t done the job right, I was chastised. She told everyone in the office we’d have to stay late until the job was fixed. Suddenly there were more people in the room than before, it became very crowded.

People were sitting on the ground, some stood against the wall. From the back of the room, a small voice, a new girl who had just started, had a solution to whatever problem I’d created.

Later in the dream, everyone was outside. I think we were near the beach, the ground was sandy and there was dried grass and bushes scattered around. Everyone who’d been in the office was now sitting cross-legged in a big circle. The circle was dispersed, though, everyone forming smaller groups and disconnected conversations.

The ‘boss’ was running a workshop as part of the internship. I saw a girl sitting close to her start to roll a joint. The ‘boss’ turned around and started showing the girl how to roll it properly.

I said something to the guy sitting next to me. He said he’d show me how to roll a better one, and asked me to close my eyes. I felt a girl’s hands covering my face and I couldn’t see anything.

The guy put something in my mouth, it felt liked dried tobacco but I knew it was a roach. Then he pulled it out and kissed me slowly, gently and platonically. I opened my eyes and he was looking at me smiling, like he knew something I didn’t.

I saw the people across from us smoking their joint, and next thing I knew we were holding what looked like a giant cigar. We started smoking and it was heavy and fragrant.

I don’t know what happened next but we ended up watching someone run away. It was sunset and the pink sky was bright and the person running was in shadow. Then the song started playing, and I remember thinking it was strange because it felt like a film soundtrack, and we were laughing and happy.